U18s: Aston Villa 3-2 Norwich City

Ten-man Aston Villa produced a stunning comeback from two goals down to beat Norwich City in the Under-18 Premier League on Saturday. 

The Young Lions went in behind at the break trailing to goals from Michael Reindorf and Dubem Eze. 

Rory Wilson tapped in the rebound after his penalty was saved to pull a goal back, with the striker then shown a straight red card for an incident in the aftermath.

Undeterred, Villa pushed on and took the lead via goals from I-lani Edwards and Trai-varn Mulley. 

The drama didn’t end there, however, as Norwich missed a stoppage-time penalty. 

After the home side had started brightly and gone close through Wilson, Norwich showed their attacking threat when a direct free-kick crashed against Alex Hammond’s crossbar. 

The Canaries speed on the counter was creating issues and eventually led to the opening goal after 29 minutes. 

Winning possession back on the halfway line, they swiftly moved to the edge of the box, where Reindorf’s scuffed shot slid under Hammond and into the net. 

Wilson struck a post as Villa responded, but they were picking the ball out of their net in first-half stoppage time as Eze sent a low shot into the far corner. 

A mistimed tackle afforded the home side a way back into the game when Edwards was tripped just inside the box. Wilson saw his spot kick saved but pounced upon the rebound to halve the deficit.

In the aftermath, Norwich ‘keeper Caleb Ansen grabbed the ball and after being deemed to physical in his attempts to wrestle it away, Wilson was shown a straight red card. 

The numerical disadvantage did little to deter Villa, who equalised on the hour mark when Edwards showed fast feet to outwit a defender in the box before placing the ball into the top corner. 

Mulley, who scored the winner against West Bromwich Albion last time out, was the decisive factor once again when he raced onto Luka Lynch’s through ball and produced a precise finish to make it 3-2. 

However, the drama didn’t finish there as Mulley was penalised for a handball in stoppage time. 

Eze stepped up and dragged his penalty wide of the post to confirm Villa as winners of a dramatic clash.